Artist: Rodrigo Hernández
Exhibition title: Carrés
Curated by: Nadja Quante
Venue: Künstlerhaus Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Date: June 23 – September 3, 2023
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and ©Künstlerhaus Bremen
The artistic practice of Rodrigo Hernández (b. 1983 in Mexico City, lives and works Mexico) moves between drawing, painting, sculpture and installation. His works reflect and negotiate the constitutive conditions and modes of perception of art and are usually influenced by literary, poetic or aesthetic texts. Over the years, he has developed his own unique set of characters and signs that continually appear and make new connections in his work. His color- and form-intensive installations and sculptures are compositions that do not develop a coherent narrative, but linger in the realm of the possible, the ambiguous, the mysterious, and the poetic.
The exhibition features a compilation of a new installation, previously unseen drawings from 2015, and the work Earth and Sky (2020) at the entrance to the exhibition. The sculptural object on the wall introduces a recurring motif of the exhibition: the relationship between curved and straight line, spiral and square.
At the center of the exhibition is the new installation Carrés (2023), consisting of a modular wooden structure, on which sit sculptural objects made of papier-mâché that can be moved by visitors. Attention thus shifts from passive viewing to active involvement, bringing in aspects of intuition and play.
The papier-mâché objects oscillate between paintings and sculptures. They raise questions of perspective and shake up the frontal way of looking at paintings as well as the relationship between viewer and sculpture. It is not only the objects of observation that are moved here, but also the observing bodies surrounding them, creating ever new constellations. In the motifs of the sculptural objects, Hernández resorts to a sign-like formal language characteristic of his work, and declines the relationship between square and circle, center and periphery.
Hernández’ works always begins with a drawing, which often occurs quickly and is only a subtle suggestion of something. “The rest of the process is in a way just a reflection and a negotiation with that original drawing”, says Hernández, “working on its advancement into a painting, a sculpture or a large installation, but trying not to get too far from it, believing that there is something true and direct about it that should remain no matter what it gives form to.”
In a quiet manner, the relationship between sculpture and image, space and object, representing, seeing and moving bodies is explored in the exhibition.
Rodrigo Hernández’ new work is produced in cooperation with P/////AKT, Amsterdam.
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés, 2023, Exhibition view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Earth and Sky, 2020, Paper maché. metallic lacquer, Installation view, Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Earth and Sky, 2020, Paper maché. metallic lacquer, Installation view, Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés, 2023, Exhibition view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Untitled, 2015, Watercolor and pencil on paper, Installation view, Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés, 2023, Exhibition view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés (Detail), 2023, Wood, paper maché, acrylic and oil color, Installation view, Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Summer Shower, 2015, Watercolor and pencil on paper, Installation view, Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés, 2023, Exhibition view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés (Detail), 2023, Wood, paper maché, acrylic and oil color, Installation view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés (Detail), 2023, Wood, paper maché, acrylic and oil color, Installation view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés (Detail), 2023, Wood, paper maché, acrylic and oil color, Installation view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, City Face, 2015, Watercolor and pencil on paper, Installation view, Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés (Detail), 2023, Wood, paper maché, acrylic and oil color, Installation view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés, 2023, Exhibition view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés (Detail), 2023, Wood, paper maché, acrylic and oil color, Installation view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Off-Balanced, 2015, Watercolor and pencil on paper, Installation view, Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
Rodrigo Hernández, Carrés (Detail), 2023, Wood, paper maché, acrylic and oil color, Installation view Künstlerhaus Bremen, 2023. Photo: Fred Dott, Courtesy the artist, ChertLüdde, Berlin, Madragoa, Lisbon, P420, Bologna
